here we are

here we are

So it's been a year. This has been the longest year of my life, but at times it seems like it's flown by. I think the most frustrating part for me is that I still don't have normal use of my right leg (and it will be a long time before I do). It seems weird to think about doing things like running around or dancing because it's been so long since I could do any of that stuff. I know I'm so lucky to be alive, but I'm still angry about the extent of my leg injuries and the way they've affected my life.

Now that we've hit that one year mark, the media is doing a lot of stories about the accident. Some people say they're sick of the media dwelling on it, but I figure it's just their job. Reading some of the newspaper articles that have come out over the past couple days have reminded me just how many people were affected by the accident.

The Chippewa Herald did articles yesterday, today, and will again tomorrow. The Leader Telegram devoted almost their entire news section today to the accident. It's probably a little bit of overkill, but then again maybe it's necessary - I think people really want to know how everyone is doing one year later.

The Herald did an article yesterday about Andrea. I think it's nice that the paper did an entire story on her, but they put a very positive spin on something that wasn't very positive. It was kind of interesting though because Andrea and I had just had a conversation the previous day about outsiders' perspective of the accident. This is a generalization, but it seems like outsiders want to think of a happy ending to this whole situation, like we're in a movie. I think we both got that feeling from the people we talked to in the media. They like to ask things like, "what positive things have happened in the past year?" I know they just want to make people smile a little when they're reading the article instead of make it even more depressing, but they have to understand that we're not all better. But there are some positive moments here and there, and I guess I don't blame the media for wanting to focus on those moments.

The Spectator was going to do a story on the accident for tomorrow's paper, but I'm not sure if it's going to happen now. They will probably do an article for next Monday's paper. It's a long story, but basically they forgot about the story until I emailed them a few days ago, and then they were trying to throw something together for their deadline. I suggested they hold off for a week or so, and then they can have time to write a nice, sensitive article. They actually listened to my suggestion, so they will probably be doing an article next week.

I don't really know what to do with myself tomorrow. I want to pretend it's just a normal day, but I think the media coverage will make the accident hard to ignore. Are there any plans to hang out or anything tomorrow night? I know tomorrow will be a difficult day for a lot of people, so hopefully we can be together and do something so it's not so hard to deal with. Those of you who are in other parts of the country or world - I'm thinking of you, and I hope tomorrow is as uneventful as possible.

Tomorrow the students at Chi-Hi will mark the one-year anniversary of the accident by having a school-wide moment of silence. They will also be receiving dogtags or a necklace or something to commemorate this year's show. No media is allowed on school grounds tomorrow - a good decision on the part of the faculty.

Speaking of Chi-Hi, here is one of those positive moments: at our band's rehearsal on Friday, a woman from Vandercook College of Music gave a scholarship to Jessi for a school of her choice. Jessi is a senior, and she was badly injured on the bus last year. Then on Saturday at our home show, two band directors from Missouri flew in and presented us with over $11,000 for the Greenhalgh endowment fund. Eleven thousand dollars!!! It was part of a project that Missouri's school band programs are participating in, where each year proceeds from their concerts will go to a high school in need. So yeah, that was pretty awesome...

On a completely different subject, I had a good day at physical therapy on Friday. Since my surgery last month, I've had to wear this huge knee brace (hip to ankle) and it was driving me crazy. It would always slide down and rest on my ankle joint, which happens to be the joint where I dislocated my foot - not comfortable at all. I thought I'd have to wear the brace for another couple of weeks, but I brought my smaller knee brace in to see if I can start wearing that one yet, and my athletic trainer said that would be fine. Then I got to walk with my little brace on, and without crutches. Up until this point, since my ACL surgery, I couldn't put full weight on my leg unless I was wearing that stupid brace. Now I can just use the smaller brace, and around the house I don't have to use crutches OR the brace!!! :)

At the end of my PT appointment, my trainer wanted me to walk up and down a graded hallway with no crutches before he decided it was safe for me to switch braces. We went through a door marked "employees only" and there was a long hall that sloped downhill. As I was walking down the hall, I thought it looked vaguely familiar. Once I got to the end and turned around, it came rushing back to me - I was there almost a year ago. It was my last day at the hospital, and that morning I had to be wheeled through that hall to the orthopedic clinic to have a cast put on my ankle. I was beyond miserable that day. Any small movement put me in a lot of pain, and I was not looking forward to someone touching my leg and putting a cast on it. I have a lot of bad memories from that day. I felt like I'd never walk again. But I can't tell you how good it felt on Friday to walk all the way down and back up that same hall with only a small knee brace for help.

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articles:
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=74697
http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=74698
(There is more in the print edition of the Leader, including a story I was interviewed for, but they don't put everything on their site...)
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news1.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news2.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news3.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news4.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news5.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/news6.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/zebra2.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/zebra2.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/zebra2.txt
http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/zebra2.txt